Longvale Grist Creek batch plant comment period extended

The county planning department has extended the deadline for public comment on the Grist Creek concrete batch plant project until January 30. The original deadline was December 26.

Neighbors of the plant at 37342 Covelo Road in Longvale have expressed concern about noise levels from a plant allowed to operate from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week, as well as impacts to water quality, salmon habitat, and air quality. The site is located next to Outlet Creek.

The public comment deadline had to be extended due to a California Environmental Quality Act requirement that any finding by a public agency that a project will have no significant environmental impact, known as a negative declaration, must be referred to a "state clearinghouse" so it can be reviewed by any state agencies with responsibility in that area, such as the State Water Resources Control Board or the California Department of Fish & Wildlife.

"We typically refer a project to the state agencies that have some jurisdiction over these areas," said planning staffer and project coordinator John Speka, "but we overlooked that, so we've got to keep the comment period open. It was an inadvertent mistake."

CEQA requires a 30-day review period in the state clearinghouse for negative declarations, except in exceptional circumstances.

Planning Director Steve Dunnicliff said his department had already been working with local branches of the state agencies most likely to be interested.

According to the development review staff report on the Grist Creek project, both the Mendocino County Water Agency and Department of Fish and Game staff have "found the existing (and/or proposed) design features to be adequate for protection of the noted resources."

Speka said DFG staffer Rick Macedo was the Mendocino County contact for DFG on the Grist Creek project and had been "out there at the site with me on more than one occasion." Macedo is away from his office until next week.

The planning department has received maybe a couple dozen public comments on the proposed concrete batch plant so far, Speka said, mostly focusing on noise issues, water quality in the creek, and salmon habitat.

The process of approving this project is "atypical," Dunnicliff said, because, according to the planning department, the applicants do not need to be granted a use permit for the project and no public hearings need be held. Because the site is already zoned industrial, the proposed use is permitted "by right," even though the project is still required to undergo environmental review.

The review document says a final change from rangeland to industrial (I2) zoning was approved by the county board of supervisors in May 2010.

According to the notice announcing the extended comment period, Dunnicliff will make an administrative decision whether to adopt the negative declaration as is or revise it further, on November 7.

At that point, any appeal of Dunnicliff's decision will go directly to the board of supervisors, skipping the county planning commission. According to Dunnicliff, supervisors do not have the jurisdiction to overturn his decision, but they can add further conditions.

Development review approval for industrial zoned properties was adopted as part of Mendocino County's updated zoning code to expedite the county's review process.